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Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has outlined his country's progress towards improving human rights in his country. Mr Bainimarama praised the conduct of of the last year's democratic elections, and said the nation's new constitution has helped establish equal citizenry, and ...

The Business Council of Australia is calling for a bipartisan ten year plan to put growth back on track and it wants the blame game taken out of the Budget debate. BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott told AM that reviews need to undertaken into the welfare system including healthcare and ...

As Sepp Blatter seeks a fifth term in the most powerful position in world sport as boss of FIFA, one of his long time allies has told AM that only Blatter can reform the way the sport is currently governed. FIFA has been accused of allowing corruption to flourish within its Executive Committee and long ...

Federal Cabinet has approved sending more troops to Iraq. The plan to send up to 300 soldiers to Iraq for a joint training mission with New Zealand will be put to the Coalition party room today. The new contingent will join the existing mission of special forces troops that's been in Iraq since late ...

The construction industry is known as a high risk one when it comes to workplace accidents. But a lesser known fact about construction is the high rate to suicide. A construction worker is six times more likely to suicide than die of a workplace incident. Industry representatives and suicide ...

The annual conference today by the national commodity forecaster, ABARES, will detail the expected increase to farm production value. ABARES says farm production value will increase by 5.3 per cent next financial year, to around $54 billion dollars. The National Farmers Federation says with a ...

The Parliamentary Budget Office has tallied the cost of the Senate delaying Government saving initiatives, and says if policy continues to be blocked it will cost the country $112 billion dollars over the next decade....

Savings worth more than $112 billion over the next decade are yet to pass the Parliament according to new research by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Many were part of the May budget. Passing contentious bills through this Senate has always been tricky for the Coalition, but the process seems to ...

Israel's prime minister says he doesn't intend any disrespect to Barack Obama by addressing Congress. Benjamin Netanyahu was keen to play down the personal politics ahead of using his high profile appearance on Capitol Hill to warn the US against making deals with Iran. His arrival in Washington ...

Tony Abbott is forced to defend George Brandis in Parliament after the Senate passes a motion declaring him "unfit to hold the office of Attorney-General" over the Government's criticism of Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs....

50 years after Terry Riley premiered his pioneering piece consisting of 53 interlocking melodic patterns, musicians in Mali record it with a West African, improvisatory, groove-oriented approach. It's mesmerising. Terry requested that the musicians listen to each other as they play the ...

UNICEF says a militia group allied to the South Sudanese government has kidnapped hundreds of boys, some as young as 12, to use them as soldiers. While there are treaties and international law banning that, it may be difficult for anyone to be prosecuted. ...

A West Australian sky diving company has changed its policy on medical conditions after a customer suffered an epileptic fit during a jump. Christopher Jones was mid way through his first solo skydive when he lost consciousness and plummeted towards the ground. A dramatic video of the ordeal was ...

Women confronted with domestic violence face fear and intimidation in the home. But those feelings can continue even when they decide to take action and seek court orders against offenders. The legal sector has ramped up pressure on the Victorian government to make court buildings safer to ...

Bluegrass-loving Texan songster Robert Earl Keen was apprehensive about making this album because he didn't consider himself a true Bluegrass player. In the end, his passion for the music overrode his fear and it's a fine album, with Keen's Texas looseness taking the emphasis away from ...

Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa afflict nearly a million Australians each year, and a third are young men, so there are calls for a national campaign to address the issue and the nearly $20 billion the disorders are estimated to cost the economy. ...